How to meet the fast evolving needs of small businesses

Co-authored by Andy Ellis, Head of Ventures, NatWest & Marieke Flament, CEO, Mettle by NatWest

The business landscape is constantly in a state of flux and the needs of both accounting practices and their clients are reflecting this.

With regulation changes over the past 10 years helping open up the market, they’ve also helped pave the way for new businesses to start and for existing ones to flourish.

This, partnered with the explosive growth of technology has enabled rapid innovation disrupting multiple sectors – including finance.

That’s why NatWest are the diamond sponsor of this year’s Xerocon London. Together with Xero, we can help accountants and bookkeepers constantly evolve to meet client needs.

Giving businesses their time back

Businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the power that technology has to make them more efficient, and what’s clear is that they’re expecting more from their banks and accountants.

Research done by NatWest shows that the key to meeting these expectations is to give people more meaningful time to focus on their business, by removing or minimising the friction with their day to day financials. Which is why we’re so passionate about what we do.

What NatWest is doing about it

NatWest has brought to market safe and secure solutions and products that have been designed to make running a business easier.

We’ve done this with a truly digital approach, giving us the ability to flex and adapt our propositions swiftly in order to align to business feedback and need.

For example, Mettle is our new digital-only business account and the first to be launched by an incumbent bank. Having been built from scratch, free from the legacy systems in the banking branch model, this app is designed to help a new breed of businesses and startups in the UK.

We’re really looking forward to showcasing Mettle, along with some of our other products at Xerocon London 2019. These include:

• APtimise – the UK’s only end-to-end Accounts Payable solution
• NatWest Rapid Cash – an innovative working capital proposition offering a line of credit based on unpaid invoices
• Esme – our alternative finance provider that gives business customers simple, fast access to loans in a way that is convenient for them.

The human approach

Human connection is at the heart of what we do. Our products are digital, giving businesses more control and us the agility to react to feedback quickly. However, we’ll continue to have one-on-one discussions with businesses whenever we can.

Our portfolio model blends the best of both worlds by taking the nimble approaches of a startup and mixing it with the heritage and talent of our wider bank.

Andy Ellis and Marieke Flament are keynote speakers at Xerocon London 2019. On day one, they’ll be having a conversation on the main stage, discussing how small and medium business client needs are best served in a world of innovation. You can also visit the NatWest stand and discover their portfolio of digital ventures geared at helping you and your clients grow – visit stand D1 in the centre of the exhibition hall.

The post How to meet the fast evolving needs of small businesses appeared first on Xero Blog.

Source: Xero Blog